


The Day Something Happened

by Cody Nelson (codyne)



Category: Valley of Unicorns
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-18 03:05:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10607982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codyne/pseuds/Cody%20Nelson
Summary: Sunny the Paaefarin is bored, and wishes something would happen. But when a mysterious artifact disappears, threatening the Valley of Unicorns, Sunny gets more excitement than he bargained for!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for the Winter Writing Contest at Valley of Unicorns, an online collecting game where you can raise beautiful fantasy horses. There are various types of equines that can be collected: Unicorn, Pegasus, Alicorn, Ethercorn (Ethereal Unicorns—they look like Unicorns, but come in endless arrays of colors, and are the servants of the Matriarch, the ruler of the Valley), Spring Fairy (small horses with butterfly wings), Paaefarin (they resemble Clydesdales), Heraldic Unicorn, and Hippocampus. The Valley that is home to these equines is cut off from the rest of the world and has no humans in it. The holidays referred to in the story are based on various annual collecting events on the site. If you detect a My Little Pony influence on the style, you are right!

It was Sunny the Paaefarin’s least favorite time of the year. Winter Holiday was over, and the Town Square (in his opinion, anyway) looked drab and uninviting with its pretty twinkle lights and wreaths all taken down, and nothing but tramped and muddy snow to decorate it. His friends were all tired and occasionally even cranky after the excited flurry of Winter Holiday activity, sick of eating cookies and cakes, glad to be rid of their Holiday guests (as much as they’d enjoyed their company). The out-of-town visitors had all gone home, leaving the town feeling empty and a little sad.

Sunny wandered along Main Street, kicking up snow with his heavy hooves, glancing in the stores, hoping for something new and cheerful to appear. _Oh, how I wish something would happen!_ he thought to himself. He was feeling a little sorry for himself, and if he’d stopped to think about it, he’d admit he was being self-indulgent, but he didn’t want to think about it, he just wanted to wallow in his despondence for a while.

He was distracted from his gloom by the sound of wings beating overhead, but before he had time to look up, a Pegasus had landed on the street before him. It was his friend, Butterfly, and he smiled to see her.

“Sunny!” She pranced around in front of him. “Have you heard? The Hippocampi are coming! They’ve been spotted coming up the river! At least twenty of them! They never come this far in winter! Armor the Alicorn flew out to talk to them, but all they would say was that something dreadful has happened, and they’ll tell us all when they reach the River Bend, where the Summer Cup is held! Can you imagine? What do you think it is?”

“Oh, no!” Sunny was horrified! Hadn’t he just wished something would happen? And something had! But it was dreadful—dreadful enough for the Hippocampi to swim all the way from their winter home to warn them! “I can’t imagine what it could be!”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough! They will be at the River Bend in an hour or so. The Matriarch has called on every available pony to meet there when the Hippocampi arrive, so as many as possible can hear the announcement. Will you go to the meeting?”

“Of course! Let’s go now!” Sunny pawed the sidewalk in agitation. He knew he’d arrive early—it would only take ten minutes to reach the River Bend from Town—but he couldn’t wait.

“I’ve got to help spread the word! I’ll meet you there later.”

Perhaps he should help, too? But Sunny couldn’t cover anywhere near the ground Butterfly and the other winged ponies could. “All right. I’ll tell anyone I see on the way.”

“Good!” Butterfly sprang into the air, hovering for a moment with her wings spread. “What can it be? Oh my, what can it be?” Then she shot off along Main Street, wings beating furiously.

Although he was early, there were already quite a few ponies milling around on the river bank, speculating wildly about what dreadful news the Hippocampi could possibly be bringing. He joined the rest in nervously pacing up and down, nodding to the ponies he knew, but too preoccupied with his own worries to talk to anyone. Sunny knew, of course, that the announcement had nothing to do with him, but he couldn’t help feeling that Butterfly’s news had come a little too close to his wish for something to happen to be just a coincidence. It had to mean something! He was sure he had a part to play in the upcoming events. He must pay close attention to the Hippocampi’s announcement, and do whatever he could to help fix whatever dreadful thing had happened.

He didn’t know how long he’d been pacing when he first heard the call. It was a thin, distant sound, barely audible above the voices and hoof steps and swishing of tails and wings. He flicked his ears toward the sound. He knew what it was.

“Listen!” he said. “Listen! They’re coming!” The ponies nearby stopped to listen, then they, too, began to urge the others around them, “Listen!” The ponies fell silent.

Then the call became clear: a high, piercing tone that could travel for miles. They all knew that call—they heard it every year, as the Hippocampi arrived for Summer Cup, making their slow, stately parade up the river. It always gave Sunny chills up and down his spine, and never more so than now.

The call would be heard throughout the Valley, and anyone who heard it would know that something terribly important must be happening to bring the Hippocampi to Town in winter. That should take care of anyone the Pegasus ponies hadn’t been able to notify. Everyone within hearing of the call would be here.

The call gradually grew louder. The ponies on the river bank stopped milling and speculating, and stood staring intently down the river, waiting. More and more ponies arrived, taking their places at the riverside, murmuring to each other and pawing the snowy ground. Presently, Butterfly flew up and landed at Sunny’s side. “Any news?” she whispered. “Any good rumors?”

Sunny shook his head. “They must be close. We’ll find out soon.”

“I saw Prip earlier. He said the Spring Fairies were all buzzing! The Alicorns are forming a regiment! Even the Heraldic Unicorns have come out of their stronghold!” Butterfly fluttered her wings. “Isn’t it exciting? It’s almost like Summer Cup!”

Sunny shook his head, but inside he was smiling at his friend’s enthusiasm, even for what was likely to be a disaster. “I wish it were Summer Cup.”

“Oh, me too, I love it! I love Winter Holiday, too. And Frilly Hearts! It will be Frilly Hearts soon, won’t that be fun!”

“Yes, Frilly Hearts is always fun. I love all the cakes and treats we make.” Sunny glanced around, distracted, as he answered Butterfly. “Oh, look! It’s the Matriarch!”

Silence gradually fell over the crowd, as they all turned to watch the Matriarch make her way down to the river. The Matriarch was a beautiful white unicorn, with a bright blue mane and tail. She was accompanied by four of her winged Ethercorns, brightly colored ethereal Unicorns who tossed their heads and flashed their horns as they walked. The five of them went up to the River Bank, to the large, flat rock jutting out into the bend, where the Matriarch presided over Summer Cup. It was covered in snow at this time of year, and their hooves made flat, thudding sounds instead of ringing out over the river as they did in summer.

The Matriarch turned to face the crowd, and smiled encouragingly. “Greetings, my ponies. Thank you all for coming. I’m sure you’re all concerned, as I am, about the news the Hippocampi bring. But whatever the news, we’ll face it and deal with it together, as we always do. Please don’t be frightened, but be ready to do your part, if needed, and to support each other.”

The ponies stamped their feet in agreement. The Matriarch turned to watch the river, and Sunny could now see the Hippocampi swimming towards them. There were four (not the twenty Butterfly had claimed), led by a blue Neptune. Sunny recognized one of the others—a red and gold Pisces named Fionn he had met at Summer Cup. Fionn was fast and clever and had won every race he entered, but he was also kind and funny and had been great fun to race with.

The blue Neptune swam up to the Matriarch’s rock and dipped her head in greeting.

“Matriarch,” she said in her rich, booming voice, “my friends, I am Nethala. I have come with unfortunate news, and I will not delay it with pleasantries. Matriarch, I must confess that we have failed in our duty to you. The Lycaster Orb has been lost.”

A horrified gasp came from the crowd! Even the Matriarch tossed her head back, stunned by the news.

The Lycaster Orb had washed up on the shores of the Gentle Lake many generations ago. It had been found by a Hippocampus named Lycaster, who was spending the winter, with many others of his kind, in its warm waters. No one knew where the Orb had come from or who had made it, or indeed what its purpose was. His friends had urged Lycaster to bring the Orb to the Matriarch so her scientists could study it, but it was so beautiful that he couldn’t bear to part with it. Such a lovely thing couldn’t possibly be evil, he’d said, and anyway, he’d found it, so it was his.

At first, Lycaster had been content to look at the Orb and enjoy its beauty, but soon his curiosity got the best of him, and he began to try to find out if it had any purpose besides its appearance. He’d carried it with him everywhere, turning it this way and that, holding it up to the sun or deep under water, speaking words of command to it, stroking it, pressing the small decorations on its sides. And soon things had begun to happen, and not all of them good! He’d set fire to several trees at the shore of the lake, starting a fire which they were barely able to put out before it spread across the forest, and he’d caused the lake to freeze over, nearly drowning several Hippocampi who were farthest from the river mouth at the time. He’d caused a huge, black cloud of foul vapors to hang over the lake for days. Still, he wouldn’t give up the Orb or stop experimenting with it. He was sure he could learn to control it and make it do only happy things, given enough time. He did manage to make pretty soap bubbles float over the lake—but when they fell into the lake and popped, they turned the water foul for several days. He made bright sparklers dance in the sky, but they exploded with such loud bangs, they deafened whoever was near.

But the biggest disaster Lycaster caused had nearly spread throughout the Valley. He had been experimenting with the water in the lake, trying to form it into delicate ice crystals that did not melt under the sun, but stayed hard and bright. After several days of failures, he finally created a beautiful crystal that remained cold and hard as he tossed it into the air.

But then he dropped it, and when it hit the water of the lake, it began to freeze the lake into hard crystals that also did not melt. He swam for the Orb to try to stop the hard freeze, but before he could pick it up from where it sat in the shallow water near the lake shore, the hard freeze had reached it and frozen it into an unmeltable block of ice! He found a rock and began to pound the ice surrounding the Orb, but it would not break. He tried to use the Orb to light a fire inside the ice, but he could not reach the Orb’s power through the ice. Meanwhile, the ice continued to spread. Finally, in a panic, he rushed away to warn the others before the ice could encase them.

The other Hippocampi in the lake all managed to crawl out of onto the shore before the ice reached them. But now what could they do? The lake had soon frozen solid, and the ice was moving up the river towards the rest of the Valley, and the helpless Hippocampi had no way to warn the rest of the ponies. If this continued, the entire river, and all the water in the Valley that the river touched, would be frozen into a solid block of ice that would never melt!

Fortunately, the strange, unmelting ice had been spotted by several Alicorns who happened to be flying by, and they quickly brought the news to the Matriarch of that time, who, like all Matriarchs, was a very intelligent and quick pony. She had sent two of her Ethercorns up the river to the Gentle Lake to find out what they could about the ice, and gathered her scientists and magicians together to come up with a solution to the problem. It took a very great magic to break the Orb out of the lake and unfreeze all the water. Ashamed, Lycaster knelt down before the Matriarch and begged her to forgive him, promising never to use the Orb again.

The Matriarch had decided that the Orb was too dangerous for anyone to use, and told Lycaster to hide it at the bottom of the lake, charging the Hippocampi to place a guard over it so that no one would ever try to find it.

And for many years, the Lycaster Orb stayed safe at the bottom of Gentle Lake with its constant guard of Hippocampi, who took their duty very seriously and never let anyone near it.

But now it was gone!

“What do you mean, lost?” the Matriarch asked. “Has it been stolen?”

“It may have been,” Nethala replied. “We saw no one near it. But it is gone from its hiding place.”

“Could someone have gotten past your guards?”

“I don’t know how! There are always four guards protecting the Orb. Two underwater, and two on the surface. Every few minutes, the underwater guards swim up and change places with the surface guards. They would see anyone approaching from above or below long before they reached the Orb.”

The Matriarch began to pace thoughtfully back and forth across the rock. “Could it have been swept away by an underwater current?”

“The lake is deep and calm where the Orb is kept, and its container is wedged into the rocks. Still, we searched the area thoroughly and found nothing.”

The Matriarch stopped, and sighed. “I can think of only one way it might have been taken. Magic.”

Nethala hung her head. “We agree. We failed you, Matriarch. We did not protect against magic.”

“Well, how could you?” the Matriarch asked kindly. “You have no magic yourselves. I should have thought of this, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Only a horned pony could have done it, and how could one reach the Orb, so deep under the water? How could one have even gotten close, with your guards constantly watching? I thought it was safe. I don’t hold you to blame, Nethala.”

Nethala looked up with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Matriarch. We will do everything we can to recover the Orb.”

“So will we all.” The Matriarch turned to the ponies crowding the riverbank. “Well, you have all heard. I’m going to meet with my magicians now and start working on a plan to recover the Lycaster Orb. If anyone has heard any rumor, seen anything strange that might have something to do with the Orb, please tell one of my Ethercorns at once. Otherwise, please go home and go on about your lives and don’t worry. I’ll call on you if I need you.”

The Matriarch and her Ethercorns started back towards the town, and the crowd also began to break up and return to their homes, Pegasi and Spring Fairies and Alicorns taking flight, while the Unicorns and Heraldic Unicorns and Paaefarins walked away. Butterfly lifted off the ground, but hovered in the air beside Sunny. “Where shall we go now?”

Sunny watched the Matriarch walk away. Suddenly, he nodded to himself and took off towards her at a gallop. Butterfly, startled, leapt into the air and flew after him. “Sunny… ?”

“Matriarch!” Sunny said, as he planted his hooves into the ground next to her.

She turned to him. “Yes, Sunny?”

Now he was embarrassed and not at all sure that he should have run up to the Matriarch like that. But here he was, so he’d better just say what he wanted to say. “I… I want to help.” He still had the feeling that he was meant to do something, although he had no idea what.

“Thank you, Sunny. I will need everyone’s help,” the Matriarch said, smiling. “What do you propose?”

“I… I….” Well, he still had no idea, but he’d better think of something! “I would like to get together a group of ponies,” he said, thinking furiously. “My friends… from all over the Valley… some of them are very clever—not more clever than your magicians, I’m sure—but different kinds of ponies, who know different kinds of things. Maybe we can think of something that would help.” Sunny stopped, and hung his head. It all sounded very silly. He hoped the Matriarch wouldn’t be angry with him for wasting her time.

“I think that’s a very good idea,” the Matriarch said. “Go form your group, and if you think of anything, please let one of my Ethercorns know.”

Sunny felt his chest puff up. The Matriarch thought he had a good idea! She wanted his help! He would do his very best. He stamped his hoof. “I will!”

The Matriarch nodded, and continued on her way.

Butterfly fluttered at his side excitedly. “Sunny! A group for the Matriarch! How exciting! Oh, may I be in your group, please? I’m not terribly clever, but I would try very hard!”

“Of course you’re in the group,” Sunny said. “And I think you’re very clever. Besides, I want to gather at least one of each kind of pony—except Ethercorns, of course, they’re all with the Matriarch. But with you and me, we’ve got a Paaefarin and a Pegasus… I saw Fionn with the Hippocampi, I bet he’d join.”

“Prip the Spring Fairy,” Butterfly added. “He’s very smart, for a Spring Fairy.”

“Who’s smart for a Spring Fairy?” a chirpy little voice asked. They turned, and there was Prip, hovering in the air behind them. With him was Celeste, the Heraldic Unicorn. “We saw you talking to the Matriarch,” Celeste said. “What’s going on, Sunny?”

“Oh, I’m glad you’re here! You can join our group! The Matriarch asked us to form a group to study the problem of how to get the Lycaster Orb back!” Sunny thought he was only stretching the truth a tiny bit to make it seem as though it had been the Matriarch’s idea. But he thought his friends would be more likely to help, and that was the important thing! “I’m looking for at least one pony of each kind to join. With you, we’ll have a Spring Fairy and a Heraldic Unicorn.”

Prip zoomed around their heads so quickly they could barely follow him. “A group for the Matriarch! Yes, yes, I will join.”

“I will, too,” Celeste said softly. She was normally very shy and stayed with her family away from the town, but she would always stand up for her friends.

“Wonderful!” Sunny said. “Now we need a Unicorn and Alicorn. Butterfly, what about Dawn for the Unicorn?”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure she would join. I’ll go and ask her. And how about Opal for the Alicorn?”

“Good idea! You go and get them, and bring them all down to the River Bend. We’ll have to meet there so Fionn can join. I’ll go and ask him. I’m sure he’ll want to help!” Sunny tossed his head in excitement. Soon they would have their group! He was sure they would be able to think of something to help the Matriarch. They must!

“Oh, this is so exciting!” Butterfly called, turning circles in the air. “I’ll be back soon with the rest of our group!” She took off toward town with a whoosh of her wings. Sunny could feel the wind in his mane.

“I’ll go, too! I’ll help find Dawn and Opal!” Prip zipped away, his tiny wings beating so fast they could barely be seen.

Sunny nodded to Celeste. “Let’s go and talk to Fionn.”

Presently, all seven ponies were gathered at the riverside, eager to do whatever they could to help find the Lycaster Orb. Sunny felt a burst of pride as the introductions were made and the ponies settled down to business. They were all there because of him, because he’d asked the Matriarch about forming a group to help, and she said it was a good idea! But when the other six had finished saying their hellos, and turned to him expectantly, he suddenly felt confused and shy. What was he going to say to them? He had no idea where to start.

“Well. Um, thank you all for joining my group. I, um, asked the Matriarch if I could help, and she….” He trailed off. All right, no starting with a fib, even a small one. “She asked what I wanted to do, and I suggested forming a group, a group of all the different kinds of ponies, to talk about the problem and try to come up with ideas for finding the Lycaster Orb. And she said it was a good idea, and told me to go ahead. So, here we are. I guess… I guess we should start with Fionn.” He turned to the Hippocampus. “Maybe you can tell us exactly what happened?”

Fionn nodded. Sunny sighed with relief. That wasn’t too bad!

“Our guards were protecting the Orb as usual,” Fionn began. Like all Hippocampi, he had a clear, bell-like voice, that carried over long distances. “As Nethala explained, there are always four guards, two near the Orb at the lake bottom, and two at the surface, always circling, changing places every few minutes. It was late at night, but the moon was full and they could see clearly. They didn’t see or hear anything unusual. But then the two underwater guards say they felt something, a pressure, like a wave, as if there had been a storm, which there wasn’t. The light changed, for just a moment, like a huge shadow passing overhead, and when it was over, the Orb was gone! It had only been a moment, a few seconds at most—no time for anyone to have slipped in and taken it, but it was gone!”

“Magic,” Opal the Alicorn pronounced gravely. “They felt the wave of magic that came in and took the Orb. But it must have been a very big magic to travel so far, if no one was in sight! But it was night—how far could the guards see?”

“To the shores of the Gentle Lake, and far above and below. It was night, but we Hippocampi have very sharp eyes. Someone could have been on the shore, but if anyone had been on or in or above the Lake, the guards would have seen.”

“But there were other Hippocampi in the lake!” Butterfly said, flapping her wings excitedly. “Maybe the thief was disguised as a Hippocampus!”

Dawn, the Unicorn, shook her head. “The body type is completely different. How could a Unicorn or Alicorn disguise themselves as a Hippocampus?”

“With magic!” Butterfly exclaimed.

“That kind of illusion takes a lot of magic,” Dawn said. “No one could do that, and spirit away the Orb, too.”

“Well… well….” Butterfly sputtered, trying to think of a way to save her theory.

“More than one thief,” Prip put in. “Working together. One to work the glamor, the other to swim near enough to take the Orb.”

“Yes! Yes! More than one thief!” Butterfly said.

“The guards didn’t see anyone, Hippocampus or Unicorn or Unicorn disguised as Hippocampus,” Fionn said firmly. “Besides, even in disguise, I don’t think a Unicorn or Alicorn could swim well enough to fool anyone into thinking they were a Hippocampus. Or hold their breath long enough to swim close to the Orb.”

“Or do the magic spell to steal the Orb, while at the same time swimming under a glamor and holding their breath,” Dawn added. “That kind of magic takes time and preparation and concentration. No, if the guards didn’t see anyone near, the thief wasn’t near. Probably on the shore.”

Opal paced at the edge of the river, her brow furrowed. “They might even have been farther away. A portal spell takes a lot of energy, but it can open to a faraway place as easily as one close by.”

“But they would have to know where they were opening the portal to,” Dawn said. “They would have to be familiar with the Gentle Lake, and the location of the Orb. None but the Hippocampi know that.”

Opal nodded. “And the pressure wave and shadow—doesn’t sound like a portal spell. It sounds like a transport spell.”

“And that would take more energy the farther it has to move the Orb. I don’t see how anyone could do it from the Lake shore, much less even farther away.” Dawn sighed. “I don’t know how it could have been done.”

“There is a way.” The quiet voice was so unexpected, they all stopped and stared. Celeste, the Heraldic Unicorn, offered a small, nervous smile. “The Magic Forest.”

“The Magic Forest! That’s a myth,” Dawn said.

“No,” Celeste said gently. “It is real. It’s not just like the legends say, but it does exist. It’s very dangerous, and no one goes there, but my people know where it is.”

“Are you saying that someone could use the Magic Forest to amplify their spell, and transport the Orb all the way from Gentle Lake to the Forest?” Opal asked intently.

“Yes, I think it could be done. But you would have to be very desperate or very reckless—or both—to try it. The Magic Forest amplifies magic, but not always in the way you want it to. In the past, the stories say, many of the horned ponies who went into the Forest either didn’t come back, or came back so changed they were never the same again. Eventually, we stopped going there, and even forgot where it was. Now, it’s mostly just a legend. And it should stay that way. But we Heraldic Unicorns remember.”

Silence fell over the group. The Magic Forest! It was a story pony mothers told their foals. Could it possibly be the answer to how the Orb was stolen? It seemed so far-fetched… but how else could it have happened?

“Well,” Sunny said, “that’s one idea. Anybody have any others?”

Silence. Then Butterfly suddenly leapt up. “What if a bunch of ponies were working together, putting their magic together to transport the Orb?”

Dawn looked skeptical, but gave it some thought. “From the shore, maybe?”

“How many ponies do you think it would take?” Sunny asked.

“I don’t know… Fionn, how far from the shore was the Orb?”

Fionn hesitated, and shook his head. “I don’t know exactly where the Orb was kept. But the Lake is about a mile wide, so maybe half a mile?”

Dawn did a mental calculation. “It would all depend on how strong each pony’s magic was, but I would think five, at least.”

But Opal shook her head. “It won’t work. Magic doesn’t add up like that. Joining spells together is hard work, and it takes a lot of practice and coordination. Some of each pony’s magic has to be used just to hold the spell together. The more ponies there are working together, the more of their magic has to be used to keep the spell stable, and less is left over to make the spell stronger. Eventually, all the extra magic is just going to hold the spell together, and none is left to strengthen it. The spell actually starts to get weaker if there are more than maybe ten ponies making it.”

“But what about the magic displays the Matriarch’s magicians do every midsummer? There are hundreds of magicians all making magic together!” Butterfly exclaimed. It was true, Sunny thought, although there were actually no more than twenty magicians making the displays, not hundreds.

“They’re not combining to make one spell,” Opal explained. “They’re coordinating their magic, but they’re each making their own spells. And it’s still very hard work. They practice the displays for months.”

“Then, how many ponies do you think it would take to transport the Orb from the lake to the shore?” Dawn asked.

Opal’s brow creased as she considered it. “To make a transport spell to reach half a mile would probably take at least eight ponies, or more. They would all have to be strong magicians, and practice together for a long time. And their spell has to go under water. That would make it harder. I just don’t think it’s very likely that any number of ponies could do it. And even if they could—it’s hard enough to believe that one magician would want to steal the Orb, but eight or more working together? Or even five? And no one knew anything about it? I think it has to be just one pony, somehow.”

“And that brings us back to the Magic Forest,” Sunny sighed. “Well, if that’s our idea, I’ll go tell the Matriarch.”

“Oh, Sunny, we can’t go to the Matriarch with such a story! We must investigate first! We must have evidence!” Prip buzzed around the group excitedly.

“Oh, yes, let’s go to the Magic Forest!” Butterfly added her enthusiasm.

Celeste nodded. “It’s true, Sunny,” she said. “Most ponies don’t believe the Magic Forest exists. Even many Heraldic Unicorns have come to doubt it. We need more before we go to the Matriarch.”

“But the Matriarch said…,” Sunny protested weakly. “She said to tell one of her Ethercorns if we had any ideas. I should do that.”

“We’ll tell them. But we must have something to tell. Not just a bedtime story,” Prip said.

“But Celeste said it’s dangerous,” Sunny said. “And if the Orb is there, it will be even more dangerous.”

“We’ll be careful!” Butterfly shouted, as she spun in the air in circles. Sunny couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little.

“We wouldn’t need to go into the Forest,” Opal said thoughtfully. “Just near enough to see it, to prove its existence. Then we’ll really have something to tell the Matriarch.” Sunny knew he was fighting a losing battle, if even serious Opal was in favor of going.

“Wouldn’t you like to see the Magic Forest?” Dawn asked. “I would! We should at least go and check it out.”

Sunny had to admit that he would really like to see the Magic Forest, too. And it was true, no one was likely to take them seriously if all they had was the suggestion of a fairy tale. “How long would it take to get there?”

“Around half a day,” Celeste said.

Butterfly flew back and forth, ready to leave that very moment. “We can be there by dinner-time!”

“We’ll have to bring our dinner with us!” Prip said gaily.

“And, if we don’t get there until dinner-time, we’ll have to stay the night,” Opal added. “It will be too late to come all the way back tonight.”

“It will be like a camping trip,” Sunny said, finally convinced. “We’ll need supplies. Why don’t we all go home and get what we’ll need, and meet back… Celeste, which way out of town? Where should we meet?”

“We’ll take the north road, past the Fallen Rock. Why don’t we meet there?”

“All right. Meet by the Fallen Rock in an hour.” Sunny finally noticed Fionn, swimming back and forth at the river’s edge despondently. “Oh, Fionn! I don’t suppose there’s a river that flows near the Magic Forest that Fionn can swim up?”

Celeste shook her head. “There’s a river through the Forest, but it doesn’t connect with this one. I’m afraid you won’t be able to come with us, Fionn. But you’ve been very helpful. We’d never have figured it out without you.”

The other ponies gathered at the river’s edge, thanking Fionn and saying how sorry they were he couldn’t come with them. “But you’ll still have an important job to do,” Sunny told him. “We don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to the Magic Forest. Even if we don’t go in, it’s still going to be dangerous. You’ll have to wait here for us, and if we’re not back by tomorrow night, tell the Matriarch where we’ve gone.”

“Where is the Magic Forest? Celeste, can you draw me a map?” Fionn asked. Celeste agreed, and, using her horn, began to sketch a map on one of the flat rocks on the river bank. All the ponies watched intently, trying to memorize the lines Celeste drew. According to her map, the Magic Forest was a small section of the Great Forest, on the northern slopes of the Valley, hidden amid a scattering of steep cliffs and twisty rock formations. “All right,” Fionn said when the map was finished, “Now I’ll be able to show the Matriarch where you went, if you don’t come back in time. But I’m sure you will!”

They said their goodbyes and split up to get ready for their journey. Sunny was excited! He hadn’t been on a trip in ages, and now he was going up the mountain to find the Magic Forest! And just this morning, he’d been grumbling to himself because he was bored and wishing something would happen. Well, something had happened, all right! It was scary and dangerous, but it was fun, too.

An hour later, they were gathered together at the Fallen Rock and ready to begin. They started out moving quickly up the smooth, well-traveled trails near Town. Celeste, who lived along the way, pointed out her home as they passed by. They were cheerful, laughing and singing as they went.

But soon enough, the trail grew narrow and steep, with loose rocks and soft places that caught at their hooves. The flying ponies, Butterfly, Prip, and Opal, flew ahead to scout out the best routes, while Sunny took the lead on the ground, his big hooves and strong legs clearing the trail. Behind him, Celeste offered guidance and Dawn used her magic to light the trail.

After several hours, their pace had slowed to a crawl. They were moving along the side of the mountain now, with cliffs rising on one side and plunging precipitously on the other. There was more snow here, making the trail slippery, and the sun had gone behind the mountain, leaving only a thin afternoon light to show their way. They often had to stop and wait for the winged ponies to fly ahead and figure out how to get past obstacles and washed out sections of trail. Several times, Sunny had to put his shoulder to a large tree limb or boulder that blocked the way, and push it over the edge. They would watch it tumble down the cliff, shivering. The flying ponies stayed close to the ground ponies as they picked their way along, ready to provide support if anyone slipped. _They wouldn’t be able to hold me up if I fell,_ Sunny thought. _So I guess I’d just better not fall._

They continued to work their way up the mountain, with only brief stops to rest and nibble on apples they’d brought along for snacks. The trip was no longer a cheerful afternoon ramble, but none of the ponies flagged in their determination to continue. Finally, after several more hours of struggle, the narrow trail began to widen and level out.

Celeste nosed past Sunny and studied the path ahead. “We should be getting close. The trail should angle towards the west up ahead, and open onto a meadow. The Forest will be past the meadow. Another hour, perhaps.”

“Oh, goodie!” Butterfly shouted, and immediately flew ahead. She disappeared around a bend, and after a few minutes, flew back. “Yes, it’s there! The meadow, I see it! Let’s go, everyone!”

The ponies set off with renewed energy, eager to finish their journey. They reveled in the feel of grass under their hooves once they reached the meadow, which was tucked into a remote valley hidden between high mountain peaks, protected from the harshest of the winter storms. They even began to trot for short distances, relieved to be off the steep mountain trail.

But later, as they approached the forest they could now see at the far end of the meadow, they began to slow down. Not from weariness, or lack of footing, but something about the trees seemed forbidding and cold. They finally came to a stop, still several hundred feet from the nearest tree.

“Well, this is it,” Celeste said quietly, as if not wanting the trees to hear. “I can feel the magic from here.”

“Me, too,” Dawn said with a shiver. “I can almost hear it. It’s like it’s calling out to me.”

“It wants more magic,” Opal said. “It wants us to go in.”

Sunny, being non-magical himself, couldn’t feel anything, but he did think the trees, with their black trunks and silvery leaves, looked strange. Winding breezes seemed to pass through the trees, making the branches move in waves, their leaves tinkling like bells.

Butterfly flew a few lengths closer to the trees, then settled to the ground with a thump. “It’s pretty. But it doesn’t seem very friendly. Not like the Greenwood at home.”

“The magic is so thick! Look, it’s dark between the trees. Even though they’re not so close together, you can’t see a thing.” Prip darted back and forth, approaching the forest, then zooming back, peering at the trees from various angles.

Sunny stamped his feet. “Well. It’s certainly the Magic Forest, all right. What about the Orb? If it’s in there, is there any way to tell? Besides going in, of course, which we are not going to do!”

“If we knew what the Orb’s magic felt like, we could try to detect it inside the Forest’s magic. But I’ve never been near the Orb, and wouldn’t know what to look for,” Opal said.

Dawn tossed her head, pointing her horn at the trees. “We could try to do a transport spell, and see if we could pull it out. But there’s so much magic here, it would be very hard to isolate the Orb.”

“Not to mention that, even if it’s here, we’ve no idea exactly where. And the Forest is large,” Celeste added. “Aiming a spell would be impossible.”

“All right,” Sunny said. “Is there any way to tell if anyone’s been here recently?”

“Let’s search for clues!” Prip exclaimed, and buzzed away to study the meadow from one side to the other. Butterfly and Opal joined him, while the ground ponies walked from side to side, noses to the ground. But the meadow grass was thick and lush and barely showed evidence of their own passage, much less someone who might have traveled through days ago. And, as Opal pointed out, if the thief had been an Alicorn, he or she could have just flown across.

Soon, they gave up their search in the failing light. “We’ve done what we came to do,” Sunny told the others, as they gathered in the shelter of the eastern peak to make camp for the night. “We found the Magic Forest, and we can tell the Matriarch it’s here, and it’s real, and the Orb could have been brought here. If anyone has any other ideas about how we can tell for sure if the Orb is here, we can try them in the morning. Otherwise, we’ll head back first thing.”

They ate the apples and muffins and leftover Winter Holiday cookies they’d brought with them for supper, then curled up on the soft meadow grass to sleep. A few had brought blankets, and Celeste cast a spell to form a protective shield over them, to keep them warm and dry. It had been a long, hard day, and they all fell asleep quickly.

Sunny didn’t know what had awakened him, but some time later he lifted his head and looked around. The night was clear and moonless, with stars twinkling overhead. But over there, toward the Forest, he saw a strange glow emanating from the trees, and walking towards it—was that Dawn? She was taking slow, stiff steps, her head lowered, as if sleep-walking.

“Dawn!” he called out. The others started awake, and Dawn paused, looking around in confusion. They all jumped up and ran towards her. “Dawn! What happened?”

They gathered around her as she shook her head, blinking. “I don’t know! I was asleep, and, and now I’m here! I think I was dreaming. Someone was calling to me.…” She looked up, then, and saw the glow from the Forest. “Oh! What is that?”

They all turned to look. It was a silvery light, coming straight out from the trees like the beam from a lantern. The beam fell to the ground just a few feet in front of them. It was only light, Sunny told himself, but still, he was very glad they’d stopped Dawn before she stepped into it.

“Is it the Forest?” Opal asked.

“I don’t think so,” Dawn said. “It doesn’t feel like it did earlier.”

“That light wasn’t there before, either,” Celeste added. “Even in daytime, we would have seen it.”

“Could it be… ?” Prip asked. Everyone knew what he meant. Was it the Orb? How could they find out? Sunny was determined that no one would get any closer to that light.

But the light was coming closer to them! “Back up, everyone!” Sunny exclaimed. “Don’t let it touch you! I have a bad feeling about this light.”

Butterfly and Prip flew above it, Prip darting what Sunny felt was dangerously close to the source. “Look, there’s someone there! Coming out of the Forest!”

They spread to either side of the light beam, and looked beyond it, where they could now see a shadowy form slowly walking out of the trees.

“Beastius!” Opal exclaimed. And, yes, now that the figure was at the edge of the meadow, they could see that it was Beastius the Unicorn, with his strange, twig-like horns and glowing eyes. But now he looked even stranger than usual, an almost reddish cast to his eyes, his mane and tail wild, the spots on his sides throbbing. And, held at the tip of his forward horn, a silvery ball twirled, sending forth the beam of light.

“Is that the Orb?” Celeste asked softly.

“I don’t know. It must be,” Sunny said. Then he stepped forward, careful to stay out of the light. As a non-magical pony, it shouldn’t affect him, unless Beastius deliberately aimed a spell at him, but he didn’t want to take any chances.

“Hello, Beastius,” he said, trying to sound friendly and reassuring. “What are you doing here? We didn’t expect to find you.”

“I AM ALONE,” Beastius intoned, staring straight ahead, his voice echoing strangely.

“No, you’re not,” Sunny disagreed pleasantly. “We’re here with you. What are you doing with the Orb?”

“IT CAME TO ME.” Still staring off into the distance, Beastius began to step towards Sunny.

“Did it? Well, it’s very dangerous, you know. The Matriarch’s been looking for it. Don’t you think you should put it down?” Sunny stepped back slowly, keeping the distance between them.

“IT CAME TO ME,” Beastius repeated, still walking towards Sunny.

Sunny spoke softly to the others, “Everyone, try to lead him away from the Forest, get him away from the magic.”

They formed a line beside Sunny, backing away, leading Beastius slowly out into the meadow. Then Dawn stopped. “Aren’t you hungry?” she asked. “I’ve got a lovely Holiday cookie here you can have.” She picked up the cookie with her magic, and set it gently on the ground in front of Beastius.

Beastius stopped, staring at the cookie as though wondering what it was. Then a tiny light of understanding shone in his eyes. He lowered his head to lip at the cookie, then suddenly dropped the Orb, its light abruptly extinguished, and began to eat.

Like a shot, Prip zoomed in and picked up the Orb, dashing away with it.

Everyone froze, waiting to see what Beastius would do. But he didn’t even seem to notice, continuing to eat his cookie.

“Prip! Take the Orb, quickly, and fly to the Matriarch with it as fast as you can!” Sunny urged. “Butterfly and Opal, go with him!”

The three winged ponies nodded, Butterfly and Opal taking up positions on either side of Prip, and the three of them flew away across the meadow, disappearing quickly back the way they’d come.

Sunny, Celeste, and Dawn walked up to Beastius, who was now looking around confused, the strange light gone out of his eyes, his legs trembling with exhaustion or fear. “Beastius,” Celeste said gently, “can you tell us what happened? How did you come to be in the Magic Forest?”

“I… I don’t know,” he said. “I remember leaving Town. I wanted to be by myself. I just ran and climbed until I ran into the Forest. The Forest wanted me, so I went in.”

“Beastius, was someone being mean to you?” Dawn asked, frowning. They all knew that Beastius was sometimes the butt of jokes because of his strange appearance.

“No,” he said sadly. “It’s just hard to make friends. I thought I’d be better off alone.”

“Well, you’re not alone now. We’ll be your friends,” Dawn said. Sunny and Celeste nodded their agreement. Beastius smiled a little, and seemed to stop trembling.

“But, Beastius, how did you get the Orb?” Sunny asked.

“I don’t know!” he said. “The longer I stayed in the Forest, the more confused I got. I was thinking about the Orb. I thought I was dreaming, but then there it was! Oh, I shouldn’t have taken it! Do you think the Matriarch will be very angry?”

“No,” Celeste said reassuringly. “She’ll understand you didn’t mean to do it. Just tell her you’re sorry and won’t ever go near the Magic Forest again!”

“I will!” he promised, with a decisive nod of his head. “Should we go to her now?”

“Well, I think we’d better wait until morning,” Sunny said. “I don’t want to try that trail in the dark! Let’s move farther down the meadow, though, until we’re well away from the Forest. Then we can get some sleep.”

So they did, making camp near the entrance to the meadow, and started back down the mountain at first light. They’d only gotten halfway down when they were met by Prip, Butterfly, and Opal flying back up to them—along with three of the Matriarch’s winged Ethercorns! They’d delivered the Orb to a grateful Matriarch, who’d sent her guards to escort them home, with the promise of a hero’s welcome for all of Sunny’s group.

They arrived back in Town by lunch-time, where they were greeted by the Matriarch herself, who graciously accepted Beastius’ apology and congratulated the rest of them on their fine work recovering the Orb. Then they were treated to a huge feast put on by the entire Town!

Later that afternoon, the Matriarch gathered everyone at the River Bend so the Hippocampi could hear, and made a brief speech.

“I am very grateful to Sunny, Butterfly, Prip, Celeste, Dawn, Opal, and Fionn for working together to find the Orb and bring it to me. I also want to thank the Hippocampi for their service in guarding the Lycaster Orb all these years. But now it’s time for a change. The Hippocampi were originally given the task because Lycaster was a Hippocampus, but since the Orb was taken this time by a Unicorn, the task now passes to them. We’ll be discussing new ways to protect the Orb from danger in the coming days, but for now, let’s all celebrate its safe return!”

A huge cheer went up, and the party went on until late at night. By the time Sunny was nestled in his own bed, he felt that he could sleep for a week!

The next day, they said goodbye to Fionn, who was heading back to Gentle Lake with the other Hippocampi, and the others, too, split up and headed to their own homes. Soon, it was just Sunny and Butterfly walking along the Town Square, looking in the shops and kicking up the last of the snow.

“That was fun!” Butterfly said, dancing around in front of Sunny. “I want to go on another adventure! Don’t you, Sunny?”

“No!” Sunny laughed. “I’ve had enough of adventures, at least for a while. Today, I hope nothing happens! I don’t want anything to happen at all!”

The End


End file.
